The Story
Tena ni aɬudan ni loho tɛŋɛteya dusena ŋɛha “da daɬo ɛnnavi baŋi tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na dɛmɛ” na dona nɛn lude kyala dantɨŋe. Hanna oŋŋe ŋyehe: sa tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na sa donava ludɨdɛn pɛstɛ giya. Aɬudan aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta. Ha dɛlɨdiya evena. Ha dɛlɨdiya evena iyɛ, dona ludɨdɛn ɛmmena o ŋɛha mɛha no. Linoda ha aŋe da mɛddatta. Ala loho aŋe kyɛgɛ edatta. Ha logɨdiya evena, nɛnsi dona ludɨdɛn opɛstɛ noya. Aɬudan deya omɛddustɛ: loho tɛndɛ kɨtlɛ na.
An argument is being had by the north wind and the sun with each other “it is which of the two is stronger” when a traveler with a warm cloak came along. They came to an agreement: he is stronger (=) he who can remove the cloak from the traveler. The north wind is beginning the task. He sends out breaths over and over. The more he sends out breaths, the closer the traveler pulls the cloak to himself. Finally, he (the north wind) is finishing it (the task). Now the sun is beginning the task. She sends out light over and over, and so the traveler takes the cloak off. The north wind says this: the sun is the stronger.
Verbs
We learned nine verbs.
- aŋi (S) A →◯ D
- daɬa (S) A – (D)
- duso S A ↔ D
mɛdduso S A ↔ - ɛmɛmɛ S A ↘↙
- evi S A ↖↗
- pɛsi (S) A →→
- sɛdɛ (S) A | (D)
- tɛndɛ (S) A ■ (D)
- tɨŋi (S) A → D
dantɨŋi A →
| imperfect [imp] | perfect [prf] | iterative [itr] | |
| visual [vis] / Ø | aŋi | otni | anna |
| non-visual [nvs] | ambi | ombɛ | ambena |
| inferred [inf] | alli | otɨllɛ | allena |
| reported [rep] | aŋe | oŋŋe | aŋena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | daɬa | dattɛ | danna |
| non-visual [nvs] | dappi | odappɛ | dappena |
| inferred [inf] | dalli | odallɛ | dallena |
| reported [rep] | daɬo | odattɛ | daɬena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | duso | dustɛ | dusna |
| non-visual [nvs] | duspi | duspɛtɛ | duspena |
| inferred [inf] | dusli | duslɛtɛ | duslena |
| reported [rep] | dusu | odustɛ | dusena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | mɛdduso | mɛddustɛ | mɛddusna |
| non-visual [nvs] | mɛdduspi | mɛdduspɛtɛ | mɛdduspena |
| inferred [inf] | mɛddusli | mɛdduslɛtɛ | mɛdduslena |
| reported [rep] | mɛddusu | omɛddustɛ | mɛddusena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | ɛmɛmɛ | omɛtɛ | ɛmena |
| non-visual [nvs] | ɛmɛbi | omɛptɛ | ɛmbena |
| inferred [inf] | ɛmɛli | omɛttɛ | ɛmlena |
| reported [rep] | ɛmɛmo | omɛntɛ | ɛmmena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | evi | tavi | evna |
| non-visual [nvs] | ebi | otabɛ | ebena |
| inferred [inf] | evli | otavlɛ | evlena |
| reported [rep] | evo | otave | evena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | pɛsi | pɛstɛ | pɛsna |
| non-visual [nvs] | pɛspi | pɛspɛtɛ | pɛspena |
| inferred [inf] | pɛsli | pɛslɛtɛ | pɛslena |
| reported [rep] | pɛse | opɛstɛ | pɛsena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | sɛdɛ | sɛttɛ | sɛnna |
| non-visual [nvs] | sɛppi | osɛppɛ | sɛppena |
| inferred [inf] | sɛlli | osɛllɛ | sɛllena |
| reported [rep] | sɛdo | osɛttɛ | sɛdena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | tɛndɛ | tɛttɛ | tɛnna |
| non-visual [nvs] | tɛppi | otɛppɛ | tɛppena |
| inferred [inf] | tɛlli | otɛllɛ | tɛllena |
| reported [rep] | tɛndo | otɛttɛ | tɛndena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | tɨŋi | otni | tɨnna |
| non-visual [nvs] | tɨmbi | ombɛ | tɨmbena |
| inferred [inf] | tɨlli | otɨllɛ | tɨllena |
| reported [rep] | tɨŋe | oŋŋe | tɨŋena |
| visual [vis] / Ø | dantɨŋi | danotni | dantɨnna |
| non-visual [nvs] | dantɨmbi | danombɛ | dantɨmbena |
| inferred [inf] | dantɨlli | odantɨllɛ | dantɨllena |
| reported [rep] | dantɨŋe | danoŋŋe | dantɨŋena |
Nouns
And 9 nouns
| motile sg | motile pl | sessile sg | sessile pl | |
| north wind (2) | aɬudan | aɬudna | aɬudava | aɬudnavi |
| breath (4) | dɛleya | dɛlɨdiya | dɛle | dɛli |
| traveler (1) | dona | donna | donava | donnavi |
| task (4) | kyɛgeya | kyɛgɨdiya | kyɛgɛ | kyɛgi |
| light (4) | logeya | logɨdiya | logatan | logi |
| sun (2) | loho | lonna | lohava | lonnavi |
| cloak (3) | ludɨdɛn | ludɨdi | lude | ludi |
| agreement (4) | ŋyeheya | ŋyehɨdiya | ŋyehe | ŋyehi |
| argument (4) | tɛŋɛteya | tɛŋɛtɨdiya | tɛŋɛt | tɛŋɛti |
Everything Else
Three adjectives
- ɛnna two
- kɨtlɛ strong
- kyala warm
eight adverbs
- dɛmɛ doubt, open question
- edatta beginning
- giya able to, can, potentially
- iyɛ again, more
- liya separately, non-reciprocally
- mɛddatta finishing, ending
- mɛha inwards
- noya close, near, off
three adverbial conjunctions
- ala now, and now
- linoda finally, and finally
- tena what follows is a story
two clausal conjunctions
- na when, and at the same time
- nɛnsi and so, therefore
one phrasal conjunction
- ni…ni both…and
two modifiers
- na more modifies adjectives
- no more, close modifies adverbs
two prepositions
- nɛn along with, with, and
- o at, in, on
and nine pronouns.
| motile sg | motile pl | sessile sg | sessile pl | |
| 1 | ma | manna | meya | mannavi |
| 2 | ha | hanna | haya | hannavi |
| 3 | dɨdɛn | dɨdiya | di | dɨdi |
| 4 | deya | dɨdiya | da | dayi |
- baŋi who, which
- du that
- ki this
- ŋɛha reflexive, reciprocal
- sa one, the one, this one, that one, the other one
I’ll be back after the new year. Have a great holiday!